Fri., April 3, Taylor, MI, Sisko's -- We knew we had a long drive ahead of us--about five hours (without traffic), but got a late start, and still had to pick up Tony and Vic. We were in a hurry and searching for shortcuts... Darnell was driving, and we were in Tony's neighborhood down by Lake Michigan, when Darnell attempted a right turn onto a street with a "No Outlet" sign. Hastily, he decided not to attempt to find a forward way out, and chose instead to back out of the street. He looked in all mirrors carefully, and SLOWLY backed up. We then heard a short horn honk and the sickening crunch in the rear of the van. Yes, someone had managed to hit us. It was a classic 30-something yuppie in a brand new silver Mitsubishi Gallant, complete with cell phone and 3-piece. The driver-side quarter panel of his car was well crushed in like so much styrofoam--the van sustained no damage whatever. What do they make those $50,000 cars out of anyway?? Being the loyal Young Urban Professional he was, Mr. Yuppie called the police on his cell phone before he even met Joanna. This was a bummer for two reasons: 1) Joanna had no insurance on the van. It had lapsed due to lack of funds that were spent having the baby, and 2) Illinois has a strict no-insurance law. Darnell took the baby with him and he and I headed over to Tony's, about two blocks away. Meanwhile, Joanna ended up at the police station in a holding cell, being allowed only one call--like a regular felon. You know, the world has to be protected from people like her... She did have the presence of mind to call Vic, who volunteered to put up the $200 bail to spring her out. Meanwhile, the van was parked illegally outside the police station... Luckily the cop shop wasn't going to call the towing company. Surprise, surprise... After about 90 minutes of haggling and struggling, we finally made it to the freeway... Chicago is not an easy city to get out of, especially when you throw in a Cubs game, the Chicago police, two traffic jams and incredibly frequent toll roads. The baby, Maryam, was surprisingly mellow. She had been quite fussy at Joanna's, raising concerns of her road-worthiness. Turned out, she was a real road warrior. Dozing contentedly in the road rumble, Maryam seemed to relish the motion and activity. We arrived at the club a bit late--in time to set up and chow down on some fine food at Sisko's. Rather than wait for me to finish setting up the drums, the rest of the band scurried over to the motel to check in and hurried back to eat while I remained at the club. The club was full when we began the first set, and they were very receptive and appreciative, buying several CDs and posters during break. Vic set up a notepad for people to sign on to the new mailing list, and we got several entries. After three sets most of the crowd remained, and we called it a successful night.